ElDuque wrote:

There are certainly bigger things in life (God, family, health, prosperity, education, helping others), but please take the time to appreciate that we are at the beginnings of a golden age for Duquesne University athletics.

Dan Burt has built an NCAA Tournament caliber program. The young women are stellar students and athletes.

Jerry Schmitt may be taking the Dukes to the playoffs for a second time. Young stars will keep that program good for a long time. The fact that Narduzzi wants a piece of us should tell you that yet another Pitt team is envious of one of ours.

In Keith Dambrot we finally have a coach who is a keeper. He has brought incredible intensity and focus on building a tournament program. In Mike Lewis II we have our best small guard since Nixon. Next year, the Bluff will overflow with talented big men.

Dave Harper is a genius in many ways. I declare him to be the best AD in DU history.

I can see Pitt chasing us in everything in which we compete for years. I see A10 championships, NCAA Tournaments, FCS playoffs, and maybe a game on Heinz Field vs. a Power 5 team (happens all the time; don't doubt).

Take the time to appreciate this, folks.

If we play a P5 at Heinz, it would have to be Pitt. No P5 would ever come here to play us, although we could get a road game vs a lower level P5, although it's risky to play a game like that with regard to injuries. I'm not ready to put Mike Lewis over a guy who was first team A10, and played a dozen years in the NBA quite yet, although he may one day get there. Don't short Mike James because he had the misfortune to have to play for Scott Edgar.

Phildog wrote:

Scott Edgar was the best break Mike James ever got, John Carroll hated him so much that he told him he would play a walk on before he would play Mike and he did play that walk on. I forget his name but he was 5-7 and could not even make free throws. I know this because Mike told me this.

Scott saw the raw talent he had in James and gave him the chance, James became an All Conference guard and eventually made the NBA his life's work.

James was the best player Scott inherited, although the others scored a lot of points, the three point specialist Pipkins just got fat and slow even getting his treys blocked at times, Price struggled with back problems as an undersized 4-5, Bostick could not defend most he matched up with 3 or 4 position players and they all bashed the coach after he was fired. Of course, Duquesne could not win with those players.


Lewis II was a bright spot of last year's awful team, and unlike I. Mike, he rarely disappeared in games.

Edgar was still terrible. You don't think another coach would have played James? Edgar inherited a good core, and added nothing to it in his three years. Jim Ferry was a better coach than Edgar was.
Lewis is excellent, I just don't think you can put him ahead of Mike James yet. Talk to me in a year or two.

And this is not a shot at ML2 at all, but I think he has a bit of a way to go to move ahead of AJAX in my book.

And ElDuque, it certainly is an exciting time to be a Dukes sports fan. A couple of wins on Saturday will help Duquesne keep the momentum going.

El Duque. Slick was definitely over 6 foot and maybe closer to that number  than 6 2 but I claim to know that based on his helping me get through summer General Chemistry class as my lab partner! He was a class act fun to be around and good student.I still pick him as the  best guard with BB close second and I  was a  only liitle boy when I saw Willie Somerset.

I would agree and I am not impartial when it comes to Norm and BB!I have to believe Sihugo Willie then Norm Ricketts and I would include Chuck Cooper for essentially being the Jackie Robinson of the NBA. I love BB too and unfortunately didn't see Green Rickets or Cooper.Thanks for sharing

ElDuque wrote:

Si Green was Michael Jordan before Michael Jordan was Michael Jordan. Least ways, that's how some of the old timers have said so. I wish there were film of him as a Duke.

I know some old heads who saw him play. They speak of him in reverential tones.